Floating journal boxes for crushing mills



April 29, 1958 P. HOLD ETAL 2,832,280

FLOATING JOURNAL BOXES FOR CRUSHING MILLS Filed March 2,- 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY5 MM f ma Illll April 29, 1958 P. HOLD EI'AL I 2,832,280

FLOATING JOURNAL BOXES FOR CRUSHING MILLS Filed March 2, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q g Q N Q 9 V m L T T A? J X/A E I NVENT 0R 3' Q N 3; I qWf/Wf a ATTORNEYS April 29, 1958 2,832,280

P. HOLD ET AL FLOATING JOURNAL BOXES FOR CRUSHING MILLS Filed March 2, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet I5 INVENTORS nk L ZZZ/M w wfl @Z" K ATTORNEYS FLOATING JOURNAL BOXES FOR CRUSHING MILLS Peter Hold, Milford, and Carleton H. Treat, Oxford,

Conm, assignors to Farrel-Birmingham Company, Incorporated, Ansonia, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application March 2, 1956, Serial No. 569,137

5 Claims. (Cl. 100-170) This invention relates to improvements in crushing mills such, for example, as cane mills where a mass of cane is passed through roll stands to be crushed between the rolls of the stand. As shown, the invention is applied to the top roll of a three-roll mill although the invention is not limited to this particular application.

In a three-roller mill the problem of maintaining a proper pressure on the cane going through the mill through the use of hydraulic units acting on the necks of the top roll, as is usually the custom, is complicated by the fact that the blanket of cane is not of even and uniform thickness throughout the length of the rolls. This often results in the spreading of the distance between the rolls more at one end than at the other of the top roll, thus canting or tipping the axis of the top roll.

Under these condtions the various parts of the mechanism for applying hydraulic pressure to the roll tend to bind and thus inhibit the free fiuid movement of the journal box for this roll. In order to restore this free floating operation, it is desirable to provide some form of articulation between the top roll or top journal box of the roll and the hydraulic mechanism.

The hydraulic pressure is usually applied to the top roll by means of a piston and cylinder arrangement whereby fluid under pressure is introduced into the cylinder which, through its piston, applies pressure to the journal boxes of the top roll in order to maintain an even and constant pressure upon the blanket of cane passing through a mill. The piston must make a reasonably close fit in the cylinder, and it is, therefore, necessary to either provide for a tilting movement of the cylinder if the piston serves as the pressure-applying member to apply the pressure to the roll, or if a separate pressure-applying member is employed to transmit pressure from the piston it is necessary that this member be permitted to tilt or be articulated so that it can adjust itself to the different elevations of the ends of the roll when the blanket of cane passing through the mill is not uniform in thickness.

One object of the present invention is to provide a crushing mill for cane or the like in which the hydraulic pressure is applied to the roll necks by means of an articulated mechanism to permit variation in elevation of the roll.

A further object of the invention is to provide a crushing mill for cane or the like wherein means is provided for applying hydraulic pressure to one of the rolls, and provision is made for articulation of this mechanism so that the pressure will be uniform even though the roll axis may be tipped in response to unevenness in the blanket of cane passing through the mill.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a three-roll mill stand embodying our invention;

nire States Patent ice Fig. 2 is a partial sectional view substantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view similar to Fig. 2 showing the tipping of one end of the top roll of the three-roll stand in response to unevenness of the blanket of cane passing through the mill;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing a modified form of the invention; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken at right angles to that of Fig. 5 showing the position of the parts when one end of the roll is tipped.

To illustrate one embodiment of the invention there is shown in the drawings a three-roll mill stand comprising a housing 10 within which are mounted a cane roll 11, a bagasse roll 12, and a top roll 13.

This invention particularly relates in this case to the mechanism for applying pressure to the top roll 13 which, as shown in Fig. 2, is provided with roll necks 14 mounted in suitable hearings in the housings 10. These bearings comprise a lower bearing 15 and an upper bearing or journal box 16, these bearings being mounted in a suitable semi-cylindrical recess 17 in the housing. It may be noted from Fig. 3 that one side of the journal box fits closely against the side of the recess 17 in the housing, and at the other side a so-called ladder bearing 18 is provided between the journal box 16 and the housing. As this structure is of usual form, no detailed description of the ladder bearing or its operation is necessary.

The housing 10 is provided with a bearing cap 20 of usual form in which is removably mounted a cylinder head member 21, this member being mounted in an opening 22 which extends through the cap.

A cylinder 23 is disposed in the opening 22 below the head 21, and working in this cylinder is a piston 24, the cylinder being provided with an inlet 25 through which pressure fluid may be admitted to the cylinder above the piston to maintain the latter under pressure in a downward direction.

The cylinder reacts at its upper end against: the head 21 which is held in place by the bayonet joint arrangement 26. The piston 24 acts at its lower end against a distributor plate 27 which rests upon the upper bearing member or journal box 16. Thus the piston is the pressure-applying member to apply downward pressure to the journal box in response to the hydraulic fluid pressure in the cylinder 23.

It will be noted that the cylinder 23 is somewhat smaller as regards its outside diameter than the opening 22 so that a certain amount of canting or tipping movement of the cylinder is permitted in the bearing cap. The head 21 is provided with a tapered or conical opening 28 through which extends a tube 29 for introduction of hydraulic pressure into the cylinder, the conical opening providing for the movement of the member 29 during the tilting movement of the cylinder.

To provide for freedom of alignment and articulation between the piston and cylinder on the one hand and i the head 21 and distributor plate or bearing plate 27 on the other hand, flexible pressure cushions are provided to take up misalignment of the parts due to the tipping of the roll axis, as shown in Fig. 4. One of these cushions, which, as shown, are of rubber, is designated at 30 and rests in a recess 31 in the head 21, in which recess is received the upper reduced end 32 of the cylinder. A similar rubber cushion 33 is provided in a recess 34 in the distributor plate 27 and is disposed between this plate and the lower end of the piston 24. It will be apparent that as the axis of the roll tips, these cushions will yield and be compressed at one side more than the 3 other-so as to provide articulation between the piston and cylinder on one hand and the journal box 16 on the other hand.

The normal position of the parts when no cane is passing through the mill is shown in Fig. 2 wherein it will be seen that at each end of the roll the mechanism for applying hydraulic pressure to the roll necks is in direct vertical alignment. However, when a blanket of cane is passing through the mill and this blanket is of uneven thickness, one end of the roll may be tipped, as. shown in Fig. 4, where the left-hand end of the roll is tipped upwardly, thus resulting in the journal box 16 and the distributor plate 27 at each end of the roll being moved upwardly and slightly to right. Under these conditions it will be seen that the flexible rubber cushion 33 Will be compressed at its outer or left-hand edge more than at its opposite edge, and will, therefore, permit a slight tilting of the piston 24 and the cylinder 23. This in turn will result in compression of the flexible rubber cushion 30 at the other side and also slight tilting of the inlet tube 29. Thus a flexible connection is provided between the pressure-applying device and the roll, permitting articulation of the parts without the necessity of providing for additional mechanical means for this purpose. The top roll is rendered more free floating in its action than has been possible heretofore, and there is a large reduction in friction resulting in minimum power consumption and minimum maintenance expense in that it results in lessened'wear in the hydraulic mechanism.

A modified form of the invention is shown in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawing wherein a separate pressure-applying member is employed between the piston and the distributor plate which rests upon the upper bearing member or journal box of the roll neck.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the roll neck 14 is mounted between upper and lower bearing members 15 and 16 in the recess 17 of the housing 10. Similarly a distributor plate dill is provided which rests upon the upper bearing member 16. The housing is covered by the cap 20, and the head member 21 is mounted in an opening 22 through the cap as previously described in connection with the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4.

In this instance a cylinder or lining member 41 is provided within the opening 22, the upper end of this member being closed by the head 21, and suitable packing 4-2 may be provided to make a tight connection between the head and the cylinder. Fluid pressure may be introduced into the cylinder through the pipe 43 leading through the head 21.

Within the cylinder is a reciprocable piston 44, this piston being recessed through its lower end so as to provide a skirt portion 45. Within this skirt portion is a pressure-applying member 46 of substantially cylindrical form.

The'upper end of the member 46 extends within a recess 47 provided internally of the piston above the skirt portion 45, and between this member and the bottom of the recess is a flexible cushion 48.

Similarly a flexible cushion 49 is provided between the lower end of the pressure-applying member to and the bottom of a recess 50 provided in the upper face of the distributor plate 4%. These flexible cushions 48 and 49 are similar to the cushions and 33 previously described and may be made of a suitable quality of rubber.

In this arrangement it will be apparent that the cylinder 41 is rigidly mounted in the cap 24), and the piston 44 making a tight fit in the cylinder will be restrained to axial movements therein and be prevented from tipping relatively to the cylinder. Therefore, articulation in this instance is provided. between the piston and the distributor plate 4%, this being effected by means of the pressureapplying member 46 and the rubber cushions at each end of the latter.

' In Fig. 5 of the drawings the position of the parts is shown when no cane is passing through the mill. However, when an uneven blanket of cane passes between the rolls, that is, below the top roll shown, the axis of this roll will be tipped, as shown in Fig. 6, thus resulting in some misalignment of the distributor plate 40 and the piston 44. Articulation or compensation for this misalignment will be provided by the greater compression of the rubber cushions 48 and 49 at one side than at the other side, thus permitting tilting of the pressure-applying member 46, as shown in this figure.

The faces of the pressure-applying members, whether the piston as shown in Figs. 1 to 4 or the member 46 of Figs. 5 and 6, which bear against the rubber cushions, are substantially flat as is the face of the upper reduced portion 32 of the cylinder 23. These parts have slight play in the recesses in which they are received to permit the articulating movements described.

While there is shown and described some preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What we claim is:

l. A crushing mill comprising cooperating rolls having bearing necks, a roll stand in which said roll necks are mounted including a bearing cap, one of said rolls being mounted for floating movement toward and from a cooperating roll, means mounted in the roll stand for applying hydraulic pressure to the neck of said one roll, urging it toward the cooperating roll, said means including a piston and cylinder assembly tiltably mounted in the roll stand between said cap and the roll neck, and flexible cushion members between said assembly and the cap and between said assembly and the roll neck to permit angular variation of said assembly in the roll stand and also of the axis of said one roll with respect to that of a cooperating roll.

2. A crushing mill comprising cooperating rolls hav ing bearing necks, a roll stand in which said roll necks are mounted including a bearing cap, one of said rolls being mounted for floating movement toward and from a cooperating roll, means mounted in the roll stand for applying hydraulic pressure to the neck of said one roll, urging it toward the cooperating roll, said means including a piston and cylinder assembly between said cap and the roll neck, and flexible cushion members between said assembly and the cap and between said assembly and the roll neck to permit angular variation of the axis of said one roll with respect to that of a cooperating roll, and said assembly being mounted for angular movement in the roll stand to permit variation in the axis of the cylinder with respect to that of the roll.

3. A crushing mill comprising cooperating rolls having bearing necks, a roll stand in which said bearing necks are mounted including a bearing cap, one of said rolls being mounted for floating movement toward and from a cooperating roll, a cylinder mounted in said cap having a piston therein, said cylinder having freedom of movement in the cap, a head member mounted in the cap against which said cylinder reacts, a flexible cushion member'between said cylinder and said head member, a journal box bearing against the neck of said one roll, a distributor plate between said journal box and said piston, and a flexible cushion member between said distributor plate and said piston to permit relative movement between the piston and distributor plate.

4. A crushing mill comprising cooperating rolls having bearing necks, a roll stand in which said bearing necks are mounted including a bearing cap, one of said rolls being "mounted for floating movement toward and from a cooperating roll, a cylinder mounted in said cap having a piston therein, said cylinder having freedom of movement in the cap, a head member mounted in the cap against which said cylinder reacts, a flexible cushion member between said cylinder and said headmember, a

journal box bearing against the neck of said one roll, a distributor plate between said journal box and said piston, and a flexible cushion member between said distributor plate and said piston to permit relative movement between the piston and distributor plate, and said distributor plate having a recess therein receiving the outer end of the piston, in which recess said flexible cushion member is mounted.

5. A crushing mill comprising cooperating rolls having bearing necks, a roll stand in which said roll necks are mounted including a bearing can, one of said rolls being mounted for floating movement toward and from a cooperating roll, means mounted in the roll stand for applying pressure to the neck of said one roll to urge it toward the cooperating roll, said means including a piston and a cylinder assembly reacting against the cap and the roll neck and tiltab'ly mounted in the roll stand, and a flexible cushioning member between said assembly and the can, and a flexible cushion member between said assembly and the neck of said one roll, to permit tilting movement of said assembly and free floating movement of the roll in response to unevenness in the blanket of material passing between the rolls.

References fitted in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 802,777 Nutt Oct. 24, 1905 1,271,888 Gossett et al. July 9, 1918 1,572,735 McNeil a- Feb. 9, 1926 1,802,197 Cooper Apr. 21, 1931 2,108,746 Erichsen Feb. 15, 1938 2,143,498 Reichert Ian. 10, 1939 2,355,507 Brown Aug. 8, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS 21,802 Netherlands May 15, 1930 252,322 Great Britain Nov. 18, 1926 

